TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 43

arty Three

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“Can I ask you something?” he said after a few bites.

“Sure.”

“How are you handling all of this? Really.”

I looked up from my coffee. “What do you mean?”

“The arrangement.” He set his sandwich down and folded his hands on the table. “It’s a lot. And I know you’re trying to be strong, but how are you actually doing?”

I didn’t know how to answer that.

Franklin watched me for a moment before continuing.

“It’s unusual for someone with a fated mate to have such strong sexual chemistry with another woman,” he said. “Cameron is confused about everything right now. I wanted to know how you feel about it.”

My throat tightened.

“I’m just doing my job.”

“Are you?” His gaze stayed steady. “That’s all this is to you? Just a job?”

I thought about lying. It would have been easier.

But this was Franklin. The only person in this house who had treated me like a human being instead of a contract.

“Cameron is a very handsome man,” I said carefully. “And the sex between us was uncomfortable at first. But my body has adjusted. I’d be lying if I said I don’t get pleasure from it now.”

“But?”

“But that’s all there is.” I met his eyes. “I’m not stupid enough to catch feelings for another person’s man, no matter what my body responds to.”

The lie tasted bitter.

Because the truth was that I didn’t know what I was feeling anymore.

Crush. Infatuation. Something deeper.

All I knew was that the feeling existed and it was growing in places where it had no right to grow.

Franklin sat quietly for a moment before speaking again.

“Even if what you and Cameron share is just physical, maybe you should allow yourselves to enjoy it. This pretending you’re both pieces of furniture isn’t fair to either of you.”

“I don’t want Evangeline to get hurt,” I said. “This isn’t about me. I won’t be greedy enough to look for feelings where there shouldn’t be any.”

Franklin studied me.

“Is that why she took the totem? The one Cameron gave you?”

I blinked. “How did you-”

“I heard.”

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Shame crept through me.

“She saw it as overstepping,” I said quietly. “And she was right. It wasn’t appropriate for me to have the Alpha’s personal totem.”

Franklin’s expression darkened.

“That’s bullshit. You were almost assaulted. You needed protection. Any pack member in that situation would have been given a totem.” He leaned forward slightly. “But she took it from you. Lisa, you need to be careful around her.”

“She’s been kind to me.”

“Has she?” Franklin asked. “Or has she been manipulating you? Making you feel guilty for things that aren’t your/ fault. Making you feel small.”

I thought about the conversation upstairs. Nadia’s cutting words. Evangeline’s gentle forgiveness that somehow made the shame worse.

“She’s protecting what’s hers,” I said. “I can’t blame her for that.”

Franklin exhaled slowly. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendant similar to the one Cameron had given me, though this one was simpler.,

“Here,” he said, placing it in my hand. “It’s mine. I want you to have it.”

“I can’t-”

“You can,” he said. “And you will. You need protection. If no one else is willing to provide it, I will.”

Mooked down at the totem resting in my palm and felt tears threaten to rise.

Franklin was a good man.

There was no sexual tension between us. Just comfort. The kind that felt steady and safe.

He would be the type of man who treated a woman well, I thought with a quiet, bitter sort of amusement. The kind who would never make her feel like she was starving for something she couldn’t have.

The opposite of Cameron.

“Thank you,” I said softly, fastening the chain around my neck.

Franklin smiled.

“You don’t have to stay locked in your room all day,” he said. “Find something to do until you get pregnant. Go out. Take walks. Live a little.”

“I don’t know anyone here.”

“Then make friends. Join the weekly pack run. Get involved.” He took another sip of coffee before adding, ” There’s one this Saturday. You should come.”

“I don’t know.”

“It’ll be good for you.”

That night I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, trying not to look at the clock on the wall.

3/4

orty Three

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Trying not to notice when it passed eight thirty.

Then eight forty-five.

Nine.

Nine fifteen.

Cameron wasn’t coming.

I had no right to feel disappointed. He had made his choice. He was staying faithful to Evangeline, the way a mated Lycan Alpha should.

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